Touched
by LightningFarr0n
Summary: Caroline has just left Matt and finds comfort in Damon who takes her by complete surprise. One Shot.


_Author's Note: Just a little something that came to me. I want to keep coming up with these to keep my mind in the state of writing! Anyways, enjoy! =)_

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><p>Caroline stood in the middle of the street, a frown curving at the edges of her lips as she watched the one guy she actually wanted something more with walk off. Her eyes followed his back as he grew smaller and smaller into the distance. Her blue orbs remained in the stillness, even after he had rounded the corner and was clear out of sight. She had just let Matt go, something she only did to protect him. How was he to live with knowing she was a vampire? She didn't want anyone else to carry the burden she did of carrying around a secret, and lately as Matt tried to pry the truth out of her, she felt at a loss and she eventually came to the conclusion of letting him go for the better.<p>

"Sucks, doesn't it?" A voice from behind her startled her from her empty vision of him walking away.

The blonde sighed, almost reacting by reflex rather than want. "You would know, wouldn't you?" She turned her head, her eyes falling over Damon who seemed to be staring off into the same empty distance she was.

He held a beer bottle in his left hand while he leaned against the wall of the Grill. His eyes lingered in the vast space momentarily before he rose the bottle to his lips and took a swig. "You do remember Katherine, don't you?" He responded, shrugging off her comment. While she did sound slightly irritated, he knew what it felt like to want someone who he couldn't have.

"And Elena." Caroline returned easily, her voice not coming off as strongly as she usually did.

His eyes finally came to meet hers and he took another swig without a word, allowing her own words to sink into his head. "Yeah, don't remind me." The Salvatore expressed, almost flat in his words.

"So, what? You're just going to drink your emotions away?" Caroline questioned, finally taking a few steps closer to him as she removed herself from the street and planted herself on the sidewalk, eyeing him almost sadly.

Damon shrugged, a forced chuckle rolling out of his mouth. "I was thinking of offering some sort of shoulder to lean on and some advice to someone who may want to know what it's like to live the rest of _eternity_ wanting something you can't have." He explained, his voice becoming more serious with each word, his own icy blue eyes reflecting into hers as they darted back and forth, trying to grasp an understanding of Caroline. "Looks like I chose the wrong person to open a blind eye to." He finished and brought the bottle almost forcefully back to his lips before spinning around and walking back into the Grill.

Caroline frowned even more, tilting her head a little in defeat before groaning almost. "Damon.." she trailed off, but it was too late to convince him to stick around. How could it have been that the older Salvatore brother was interested in having a heart to heart with her? Especially after he had used her the way he did.

Chewing it over for a moment, she knew if she didn't go back in there to finish their conversation she might regret not allowing herself to see a softer side of Damon; a side that hardly ever showed in the first place. Almost unwillingly, she walked through the doors herself and spotted him taking a seat at the bar. As she walked over, she knew that she needed someone to talk to and if Damon was making the offer, maybe it wouldn't have been as bad as she thought. The uneasy feeling subsided in her gut and she sat on a stray stool next to him.

"Seat's already taken." He coldly explained, not even bothering to look at her again.

"Damon, I didn't mean it." Caroline told him, truth lacing with her words. "I just broke up with Matt-"

"I know, I heard." He brought his free hand up to his ear as he pointed and then turned to gaze at her. "Vampire hearing, remember? It's like having an intensified hearing aid. I'm sure you've tapped into it at least once by now."

Her lips still creased into a frown, she almost begged him with her eyes to calm down, to forgive her for being so blunt. "I don't think I can take this eternity thing, especially if it means being alone."

He paused. His eyes watched her, the sincerity that came across in her voice showed sorrow, something he knew all too well. "Not gonna lie, it's tough, kiddo. There's nothing we can really do about it though, can we?" He asked, his voice coming to a calmer state but his ability to open up further still shut tightly.

"At least you won't be entirely alone." She shrugged her shoulders and tucked some of her blonde locks away from her face behind her ear.

Damon crinkled his face in confusion as he peered at her in the small space. "I'm sorry, what planet are we both on right now?" He set his beer bottle down on the bar top.

"You'll always have Stefan." Caroline was straight forward about what she meant. While all her friends and family would die and leave her, Damon was going to have his brother for as long as the both of them were alive.

Another chuckle fell from his mouth before he leaned his head back and took a momentary glance at the ceiling before his blue eyes fell back onto Caroline. "Right, because having a baby brother for over 150 years is _awesome_." The last part of his sentence coming off deeply sarcastic. He shook his head and turned his face forward once more.

"All my friends will die eventually, Damon." The girl expressed more sadness.

He allowed his own frown to fall onto his face before he turned back to her. "Not me, Caroline." Damon offered a little kindness. While he knew that too much kindness would kill him, she was obviously already broken hearted enough for the both of them.

She met his eyes with a soft smile forming on her face. There wasn't much else to say to him that he didn't already know. Caroline always figured that if you loved someone and let them go, it would be hard enough to watch them move on. Now it was going to be more than ten times harder since she'd also have to watch Matt age and eventually come to an inevitable death. The girl wasn't sure she'd be ready for that with the way her current feelings for him bottled up inside her. It was good to feel like someone was listening, even if it was currently Damon.

"I know you're hurting because of Matt, Caroline." He began, not really sure of how to word a comforting conversation but he let his heart do the speaking. "I know it's not easy to see them everyday and want to be with them; to _love _them. But, eventually, he's going to be old and you're going to see him leave this earth like you said." He took a pause and pursed his lips together before continuing. "But, maybe that's the beauty of it. He'll be gone and you…" A tiny laugh intertwined his words. " You won't have to worry about it anymore." The alcohol coming off his breath was strong, but he was speaking with a sober heart, even if she wouldn't know that. "Imagine- Imagine what it would be like to live for so many years and that person still taunted you, still hurt you, still _used _you and your only option was to live with the fact that they wanted someone else." The alcohol may have held his breath, but the pain that held his eyes was something only a fool would not have noticed.

Caroline's sad smile returned to her face, and she realized Damon was speaking about Katherine and the way he felt for her for centuries. Sometimes she felt like he was the biggest jerk around and that there were no feelings or real substance behind his behavior and then there were moments like this, where Damon's selfish attitude and impulsive behavior made sense to her. She let a stray hand come to his cheek and her thumb grazed his skin in a comforting manner, her eyes offering sympathy as she looked through his broken eyes. While she knew it wasn't exactly a good think that eventually Matt would leave this world, she knew that Damon was offering the best advice he could have and she didn't speak for a moment, letting herself relish in the unspoken kindness of Damon Salvatore.

Rising from the stool, her hand remained on his cheek and Caroline brought her lips to his forehead, her eyes fluttering shut as she placed a sincere kiss on his skin. "Thank you for the heart-to-heart, Damon." Her gratitude shining from her voice.

His own eyes clasped shut and for a moment, the world felt still because he knew that he had done something that didn't hurt someone else but rather help them to find a bitter sweet conclusion to a painful dilemma. As she pulled away, his blue orbs popped back open, seeing a warmth in the blonde vampire he rarely saw since they didn't spend too much time together as of late. "Just don't tell anyone." He joked a little as he leaned in to speak quieter before pulling away from her.

"I promise." She concluded and removed her hand from his face before taking a step back and with one last look, she turned to leave the Grill.

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><p><em>Word count: 1,675<em>


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